Holy cow, how is summer almost over? I feel like we just started picking our gorgeous fresh green beans from the garden, and it’s almost time to plant the garlic for the winter! It’s still pretty warm here – it’s 30˚C+ this week – and I’ll still be in shorts until Hallowe’en no matter the weather, but things start closing down now for the year, which means we have to get all the farmers’ markets and fresh produce we can before the rains come.
What did we do in August?
I shared posts totalling 38,358 words in August 2025, which is far more than I thought.
I didn’t get an e-book out as I am writing and researching four different ones – an extensive oil reference guide, a complete lotion making e-book, Waterless beauty, part three, and esters, part two – as well as sketching out a few others.
I’ve been feeling really inspired by all kinds of new ingredients I’ve picked up over the last year, as well as all I learned in the Society for Cosmetic Chemists’ skin science certificate I finished in July 2025.
I also needed time in the workshop to do some inventory as I have so many new ingredients, and to review formulas that are ready to present as I’ve observed them over time. It was a super busy month, and I suspect September will continue at the same pace.
If you were an Innovation subscriber in August 2025, click here for the $30 off your entire cart post to get the coupon.
What are we doing in September?
September has always felt more like the start of a new year than January ever could, given all those years of starting school this month, so I have some new series to share with you.
We’ll be continuing our introduction to cosmetic chemistry on Thursdays. It’s a self-paced course, so you can start any time you want by reading the first post in the series here. You don’t need to know any chemistry – that’s the point of the series – and you only need grade 3 or 4 math as we’re doing nothing more strenuous than adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing, all the things you already know how to do when following formulas.
Click here to see links to the complete series!
We’re starting a new weekly series about cold process emulsifiers that’ll start on the first Formulating Friday in October and go until at least March 2026, depending on how many formulas I share.
You can play along or join whenever you want, even after March 2026. It’ll always be on the site.
The first post with the shopping list will be up this week as a post with a downloadable PDF.
You can see the ones we’ll be playing with in this graphic.
We have two new discount coupons this month from Formulator Sample Shop (USA) and Simply Ingredients (USA) for Innovation level subscribers, which means you get discounts from FIVE different suppliers in North America, including Lotioncrafter (USA), Voyageur Soap & Candle (Canada), and Windy Point Soap Making Supplies (Canada).
Holy cow, using even one of these coupons can pay for your monthly subscription here, and you get the e-book too? Nice!
Click here to see all the suppliers’ coupons for September 2025 – Suppliers’ coupons
I’m hoping to get the Bum Bum duplication up this month. It’s been a lot of work as they use four different emulsifiers I had to order from four different supply companies – so I’ve had to write up each one for the site along with all the photos and such – but you’ll be happy to know I made a few duplications without having to go to all that trouble.
I ask every month, but is anyone interested in a free Zoom workshop? We can make something, discuss a concept, calibrate our pH meters, play with a few new ingredients, look at the sensory characteristics of oils, or just have a Q&A.
If there’s interest, I’ll hold one. Please share your thoughts in the comments or email me.
What do you think? Share your thoughts or write to me at swiftcraftymonkey@swiftcraftymonkey.blog and let me know what works for you!
Hope you all have a great month, and thanks for joining us here in September 2025!